Winter is coming is the motto of House Stark in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO's Game of Thrones, which premiered in 2011. Popularized by Ned Stark, played by Sean Bean, the phrase meant both literal winter and coming hardship in the North. As the show became a global hit, the line escaped the series and spread across social media as a caption and reaction for storms, deadlines, and inevitable problems, remaining one of the most quoted lines from the show.